Riddle of God particle 'could be solved by 2012'

Physicists believe that by the end of 2012 they will be able to determine whether a theorised particle called the Higgs boson, which has unleashed a gruelling decades-long hunt, exists or not, they said on Tuesday."I'm pretty confident that towards the end of 2012 we will have an answer to the Shakespeare question for the Higgs boson -- to be, or not to be?" Rolf-Dieter Heuer, director general of the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN), told a press conference at Britain's Royal Society.

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STOCKHOLM — Physicists Francois Englert of Belgium and Peter Higgs of Britain won the 2013 Nobel Prize in physics on Tuesday for their theoretical discoveries on how subatomic particles acquire mass.
Their theories were confirmed last year by the discovery of the so-called Higgs particle, also known as the Higgs boson, at a laboratory in Geneva, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said.

WASHINGTON — Physicists in Italy said Wednesday they are achingly close to concluding that what they found last year was the Higgs boson, the elusive “God particle.” They need to eliminate one last remote possibility that it’s something else.
The long theorized subatomic particle would explain why matter has mass and has been called a missing cornerstone of physics.
With new analyses, scientists are closer to being certain they found the crucial Higgs boson. But they want to be 99.9% positive, said Pauline Gagnon, a physicist with the European Center for Nuclear Research.

GENEVA — Physicists said Thursday they are now confident they have discovered a crucial subatomic particle known as a Higgs boson – a major discovery that will go a long ways toward helping them explain why the universe is the way it is.

Geneva (AFP) - The world's biggest particle smasher was set Wednesday to start unprecedented experiments after a two-year upgrade to crank up energy levels to enable it to hopefully unlock more mysteries of the universe.

If you're talking to a physicist about the Higgs boson, whatever you do, do not call it by its media-hyped nickname the "God Particle." You're almost guaranteed to illicit a wince, a grimace, or in the very least a flash of mild annoyance.

Early Tuesday morning, the Royal Swedish Academy of Science awarded this year's Nobel Prize in Physics to two theoretical physicists — Peter Higgs and François Englert — who each independently predicted the existence of the Higgs boson in 1964.